§6Et cum legeret, Augustinus episcopus dixit: Dicam caritati uestrae et commemorem rem dulcissimam et suauissimam, quam domino adiuuante sumus experti.
And as he was reading, Bishop Augustine said: "I will tell your Charity and bring to mind a most sweet and pleasant thing, which we experienced with the help of the Lord.
cum ante ipsam collationem inter nos aliqui fratres de hac re colloqueremur, quia pro pace Christi episcopi debent esse aut debent non esse, quod nobis fatendum est, circumspicientes omnes fratres et coepiscopos nostros, non facile nobis occurrebant, qui hoc uellent suscipere et de hac humilitate domino sacrificare.
When, before the conference itself, some of us brothers were talking among ourselves about this matter—because for the peace of Christ bishops ought to be, or ought not to be, which we must confess—looking around at all our brothers and fellow-bishops, there did not easily occur to us those who would be willing to undertake this and to offer a sacrifice to the Lord from this humility.
dicebamus, ut fieri solet, \'ille potest, ille non potest, ille consentit hoc, ille non tolerat\', loquentes pro suspicionibus nostris magis, qui corda illorum uidere minime poteramus.
We were saying, as is usually done, 'that one can, that one cannot, that one consents to this, that one cannot bear it,' speaking rather according to our suspicions, we who were least able to see their hearts.
quando autem uentum est ut hoc palam fieret, in concilio uniuersorum tam frequenti paene trecentorum episcoporum sic placuit omnibus, sic exarserunt omnes, ut parati essent episcopatum pro Christi unitate deponere et non perdere, sed deo tutius commendare.
But when the time came for this to be made public, in a council of all, so crowded, of almost three hundred bishops, it so pleased everyone, and everyone so burned with zeal, that they were ready to lay down the episcopate for the unity of Christ, and not to lose it, but to commend it more safely to God.
duo ibi uix inuenti sunt quibus displiceret, unus annosus senex, qui hoc etiam dicere liberius ausus est;
Scarcely two were found there whom it displeased: one aged old man, who even dared to speak this more freely; the other indicated his will with a silent countenance.
alter uoluntatem suam tacito uultu significauit. sed posteaquam illum senem liberius hoc dicentem obruit omnium fraterna correptio, illo mutante sententiam uultum etiam ille mutauit.
But after the brotherly correction of all overwhelmed that old man speaking more freely, when he changed his opinion, that other one also changed his countenance.
audite ergo, quibus modis etiam ipsa exhortatio facta est propter illum qui ait: qui se humiliat exaltabitur. §7Item legit: Quid enim dubitemus redemptori nostro sacrificium istius humilitatis offerre? an uero ille de caelis in membra descendit humana, ut membra eius essemus, et nos, ne ipsa eius membra crudeli diuisione lanientur, de cathedris descendere formidamus? propter nos nihil sufficientius quam christiani fideles et oboedientes sumus; hoc ergo semper simus.
Hear therefore in what ways that very exhortation was made because of Him who said: 'He who humbles himself shall be exalted.'" He likewise read: "For why should we hesitate to offer the sacrifice of this humility to our Redeemer? Did He indeed descend from heaven into human members so that we might be His members, and do we fear to descend from our chairs lest His members themselves be torn apart by cruel division? For ourselves we are nothing more sufficiently than faithful and obedient Christians; let us therefore always be this.
episcopi autem propter christianos populos ordinamur; quod ergo christianis populis ad christianam pacem prodest, hoc de nostro episcopatu faciamus. Augustinus episcopus dixit: Propter nos hoc debemus esse quod uos.
But we are ordained bishops for the sake of Christian peoples; let us therefore do with our episcopate what is profitable to Christian peoples for Christian peace." Bishop Augustine said: "For ourselves we ought to be this which you [are].
quid debes esse tu cuicumque loquor uestrum? christianus fidelis oboediens.
What ought you to be, whomever of you I speak to? A faithful, obedient Christian.
hoc tu propter te, hoc et ego propter me.
This you [ought to be] for yourself, and this I [ought to be] for myself.
ergo, quod tu propter te et ego propter me, semper esse debemus, quod autem sum propter te, sim si tibi prodest, non sim si tibi obest.
Therefore, what you [ought to be] for yourself and I for myself, we must always be; but what I am for your sake, let me be if it profits you, let me not be if it harms you.
ecce quod dictum est attendite. item legit: Si serui utiles sumus, cur domini aeternis lucris pro nostris temporalibus sublimitatibus inuidemus? episcopalis dignitas fructuosior nobis erit, si gregem Christi deposita magis collegerit quam retenta disperserit. cumque recitaret, Augustinus episcopus dixit: Fratres mei, si dominum cogitamus, locus iste altior specula uinitoris est, non fastigium superbientis.
Behold, pay attention to what has been said." He likewise read: "If we are useful servants, why do we envy our Lord's eternal gains for the sake of our temporal high positions? The episcopal dignity will be more fruitful for us if, having been laid down, it rather gathers the flock of Christ than, being retained, disperses [it]." And as he read, Bishop Augustine said: "My brothers, if we think of the Lord, this higher place is the watchtower of a vinedresser, not the pinnacle of a proud person.
si, cum uolo retinere episcopatum meum, dispergo gregem Christi, quomodo est damnum gregis honor pastoris? item legit: Nam qua fronte in futuro saeculo promissum a Christo sperabimus honorem, si christianam in hoc saeculo noster honor impedit unitatem? haec propterea praelostantiae tuae scribenda curauimus et ut per innotescant omnibus postulamus, ut in adiutorio domini dei nostri, quo admonente ista promittimus et quo adiuuante nos implere posse confidimus, etiam ante collationem, si fieri potest, corda hominum uel infirma uel dura pia caritas aut sanet aut edomet ac sic iam pacificis mentibus non resistamus manifestissimae ueritati et disputationem uel praecedamus concordia uel sequamur.
If, when I wish to retain my episcopate, I disperse the flock of Christ, how is the loss of the flock the honor of the shepherd?" He likewise read: "For with what face shall we hope in the world to come for the honor promised by Christ, if in this world our honor hinders Christian unity? For this reason we have cared to write these things to your Excellency, and we request that they may become thoroughly known to all, so that, with the help of the Lord our God—by whose admonition we promise these things and by whose help we trust we can fulfill them—even before the conference, if it can be done, pious charity may either heal or tame hearts that are either weak or hard, and thus, with minds already peaceful, we may not resist the most manifest truth, and either precede the discussion with concord or follow [it].
neque enim desperare debemus, si recolunt esse pacificos beatos, quoniam ipsi filii dei uocabun-. tur, multo dignius et facilius eos uelle, ut pars Donati uniuerso orbi christiano reconcilietur quam uniuersus orbis christianus a parte Donati rebaptizetur, cum praesertim de Maximiani sacrilego e t damnato schismate uenientes, quos etiam terrenarum potestatum iussionibus insectando emendare curarunt, tanta diligentia quaesierunt, ut nec baptismum ab eis datum rescindere auderent et quosdam eorum damnatos sine ulla honoris diminutione susciperent, quosdam uero in illius discissionis societate impollutos esse censerent.
For we must not despair, if they recollect that the peacemakers are blessed, since they shall be called sons of God, that they would much more worthily and easily wish that the party of Donatus be reconciled to the whole Christian world, than that the whole Christian world be rebaptized by the party of Donatus, especially since, regarding those coming from the sacrilegious and condemned schism of Maximianus, whom they even took care to correct by pursuing them with the commands of earthly powers, they sought them out with such diligence that they did not even dare to void the baptism given by them, and received some of them who had been condemned without any diminution of honor, while others they judged to have been unpolluted in the society of that separation.
quorum inter se concordiae non inuidemus, sed eos oportet aduertere, quam pie ramum a se fractum tanto studio radix catholica inquirit, si ramus ipse similiter a se paruum fragmen incisum sic colligere laborauit. et alia manu: optamus te, fili, in domino bene ualere.
We do not envy their concord among themselves; but they ought to notice how piously the Catholic root seeks with such zeal the branch broken from itself, if the branch itself likewise labored so to gather a small fragment cut off from itself." And in another hand: "We wish you well in the Lord, son."